Dist. 11, Art. 2, Q. 2
Book II: On the Creation of Things · Distinction 11
QUAESTIO II.
Utrum Angelo custodienti amplificetur gaudium ex beatificatione custoditi.
Secundo quaeritur, utrum ex beatificatione custoditi Angelo custodienti amplificetur gaudium. Et quod sic, videtur:
Argg. pro parte affirmativa. 1. Lucae decimo quinto1: Gaudium est Angelis Dei super uno peccatore poenitentiam agente, quam supra nonaginta novem iustis. Ex hoc textu patet, quod ex conversione peccatoris Angelis Dei accrescit gaudium: ergo multo fortius de beatificatione eiusdem.
2. Item, Angelus in ministrando homini aliquid meretur; sed non meretur illud quod habet, sicut probatum est supra2: ergo meretur habendum. Sed quod retribuitur pro merito, hoc est gaudium: ergo meretur maius gaudium.
3. Item, Angelus habet perfectam caritatem, ergo diligit proximum sicut se ipsum3; sed ubi est par dilectio de pari bono, est par gaudium: si ergo Angelus diligit illum quem custodit, sicut se ipsum, tantum gaudet de eius salvatione, quantum de sua: ergo videtur eius gaudium duplicari.
4. Item, ubicumque est desiderii completio, ibi est gaudium et delectatio: ergo ubi de novo completur aliquod desiderium, de novo accrescit gaudium; sed Angelus desiderat, illum quem custodit salvari: ergo cum salvatur, necesse est, ipsum gaudere de eius salute. Sed prius de hoc non gaudebat, quia non erat: ergo videtur, quod novum gaudium sibi accrescat.
5. Item, in Angelis custodientibus homines potest crescere cognitio, sicut probat Magister in littera4; sed si potest crescere cognitio, qua ratione crescit cognitio, eadem ratione et dilectio: et si dilectio, ergo gaudium et delectatio.
6. Item, in eo qui ordinate gaudet, sicut crescit materia gaudendi, ita crescit et gaudium; sed in Ierusalem superna crevit et crescit materia gaudii ex Christo et eius membris, quibus ministrant Angeli beati: ergo videtur, quod in illis crescat gaudium. Quod autem materia gaudii creverit, patet tum propter Christi exaltationem, tum propter ruinae angelicae reparationem, tum propter hominis perditi reinventionem; quae omnia affectui ordinato sunt materia gaudii, maxime affectui angelico, cum sit maxime ordinatus.
Sed contra: Pro parte negativa. 1. «Beatitudo est status omnium bonorum congregatione perfectus5»; sed ubi est status perfectus, ibi non est profectus: ergo si in Angelis beatis est perfectum et plenum gaudium, ergo non videtur, quod ex aliquo suscipiat incrementum.
2. Item, gaudium est de essentia beatitudinis, sicut et caritas: ergo si potest in eis crescere gaudium, potest et in eis crescere habitus caritatis; sed si caritas potest6 crescere, potest in eis alterari: ergo potest in eis amitti.
3. Item, bonum creatum, comparatum ad increatum, est sicut punctus ad lineam7: ergo si Angelus beatus gaudet de unoquoque, sicut gaudendum est, improportionaliter plus gaudet de Deo, quam gaudeat de aliquo creato: ergo sicut punctus adveniens lineae non auget lineam, sic creatura cum Creatore non est maior gaudendi materia quam ipsa creatrix essentia per se ipsam: ergo cum Angelus gaudeat de ipsa veritate aeterna, propter aliquod8 creatum non videtur, quod gaudium in eo crescat.
4. Item, si crescit gaudium in Angelo propter beatitudinem eius quem custodit; sed ille qui custoditur potest impedire suam beatitudinem: ergo potest impedire gaudii angelici perfectionem; quodsi hoc est falsum, cum sit contra rationem verae beatitudinis, ergo et primum.
CONCLUSIO.
Angelorum gaudium essentiale nullo modo augeri potest; accidentale vero non tantum extensive, sed etiam intensive crescere, probabilius est.
Respondeo: Dicendum, quod gaudium in Angelo Distinctio. crescere potest intelligi dupliciter: vel extensive, vel intensive. Extensive dicitur crescere, quando quis de pluribus gaudet; intensive vero, quando affectus eius de aliquo copiosius gaudet. Si ergo Conclusio 1. intelligamus de incremento gaudii secundum primum modum, sic absque dubio verum est, et doctores communiter hoc sentiunt, quod ipsis beatis Angelis accrescit gaudium, quia de pluribus gaudent, secundum quod plures salvantur. — Si autem loquamur de cremento gaudii quantum ad modum secundum, Subdistinctio. scilicet quantum ad intensionem, sic distinguendum est; nam gaudium duplex est. Est enim gaudium, in quo consistit praemium substantiale; et hoc est gaudium de bono increato, quod habet Angelus de Deo et in Deo. Est iterum gaudium, in quo consistit praemium accidentale; et hoc est gaudium, quod habet Angelus de bono creato, sive proprio sive alieno.
Fuerunt igitur qui dixerunt, quod in Angelis Opinio 1. beatis accrescit utrumque gaudium intensive, quia nondum sunt perfecte beati, quamvis sint confirmati; de quorum opinione videtur fuisse Magister9. Sed quia hoc non videtur probabile, sicut supra improbatum fuit distinctione quinta10, ubi agitur de conversione Angelorum; ideo fuerunt alii, qui Opinio 2. dixerunt, quod neutrum gaudium in eis crescit intensive, sed solum extensive, sed caritas eorum non est maior, quam fuit ab initio, quamvis plures nunc diligant quam tunc.
Sed quia istud non videtur adhuc multum probabile, quod Angelis accrescat gaudii materia, quin etiam aliquo modo intendatur et gaudium; ideo est Opinio 3. tertius modus dicendi, quod in Angelis nullo modo accrescit gaudium, in quo consistit praemium essentiale11, quia Conclusio. quantum ad illud perfecte beati sunt; sed gaudium, in quo consistit praemium accidentale, accrescere potest non solum extensive, verum Conclusio. etiam intensive, et ratione boni proprii et ratione boni coniuncti; quia ministrando aliis bona opera faciunt, in quibus praemium accidentale merentur; et etiam concives suos ad beatitudinem perducunt, super quibus absque dubio gaudent et congratulantur. — Et haec positio tertia videtur esse probabilior, et secundum hanc patet responsio ad partes oppositas. Nam rationes ostendentes, quod ex nostra Ad argg. pro parte affirmativa. beatificatione Angelis accrescat gaudium, concludunt solum de gaudio accidentali, quod est circa bonum, in quo tamen non consistit essentialis praemii augmentatio.
Rationes vero ad oppositum procedunt sive concludunt Ad argg. pro parte negativa. de gaudio substantiali, ratione cuius est Angelus perfecte beatus, et quod respondet quantitati habitus, et quod est circa bonum increatum; et hoc quidem non crescit in eo, sicut illae rationes ostendunt. — Ad 4. arg. Ultima tamen ratio non concludit, quod homo possit gaudium angelicum impedire; quia, sicut iam melius patebit, sic Angelus congratulatur de hominum salute, ut tamen non tristetur de damnatione; et ita nostrae salutis impedimentum nullum in angelico gaudio vel praemio ponit defectum. Nullum tamen inconveniens esse videtur, si concedatur, quod impediri possit ipsius Angeli aliquod accidentale gaudium; sed illud melius declarabitur per consequens problema.
SCHOLION.
I. De hac 2. quaestione alii magistri antiqui vel silent, vel paucis verbis in solvenda sequente 3. quaestione rem absolvunt, quoad solutionem consentientes S. Bonaventurae. — Sed alii commentatores hoc loco alias plures quaestiones tractare solent, quae respiciunt in genere profectum bonorum Angelorum in cognitione tum Dei, tum aliarum rerum, ut S. Thom., hic q. 2. a. 1-4; Petr. a Tar., hic q. 2. a. 1-4; Richard. a Med., hic a. 2. q. 1. 2, qui docent, quod in cognitione rerum causatarum Angeli possint proficere, sed non in visione Dei.
II. De 3. quaestione: Alex. Hal., S. p. II. q. 41. m. 6. a. 2. — S. Thom., hic q. 1. a. 5; S. l. q. 113. a. 7. — B. Albert., S. p. II. tr. 9. q. 36. m. 6. — Petr. a Tar., hic q. 2. a. 5. — Richard. a Med., hic a. 2. q. 3. — Aegid. R., hic q. 2. a. 4. — Dionys. Carth., hic q. 4.
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Question II.
Whether joy is increased for the guarding Angel from the beatification of the one in his custody.
Second, it is asked whether from the beatification of the one in his custody joy is increased for the guarding Angel. And that it is, seems [so]:
Arguments for the affirmative side. 1. Luke chapter fifteen1: There is joy among the Angels of God over one sinner doing penance, more than over the ninety-nine just. From this text it is clear that from the conversion of a sinner joy accrues to the Angels of God: therefore much more from his beatification.
2. Likewise, the Angel in ministering to a man merits something; but he does not merit what he has, as has been proved above2: therefore he merits what is to be had. But what is recompensed for merit is joy: therefore he merits greater joy.
3. Likewise, the Angel has perfect charity, therefore he loves his neighbor as himself3; but where there is equal love of an equal good, there is equal joy: if therefore the Angel loves the one whom he guards as himself, he rejoices over his salvation as much as over his own: therefore it seems that his joy is doubled.
4. Likewise, wherever there is the completion of a desire, there is joy and delight: therefore where some desire is newly completed, joy accrues anew; but the Angel desires that the one he guards be saved: therefore when he is saved, it is necessary that the Angel rejoice over his salvation. But previously he did not rejoice over this, because it did not exist: therefore it seems that a new joy accrues to him.
5. Likewise, in the Angels who guard men cognition can grow, as the Master proves in the text4; but if cognition can grow, by the same reason by which cognition grows, by the same reason also love [grows]: and if love, therefore joy and delight.
6. Likewise, in one who rejoices in due order, as the matter for rejoicing grows, so also joy grows; but in the heavenly Jerusalem the matter of joy from Christ and his members, whom the blessed Angels minister to, has grown and is growing: therefore it seems that joy grows in them. That the matter of joy has grown is clear both on account of Christ's exaltation, and on account of the repair of the angelic ruin, and on account of the recovery of lost man; all of which are matter of joy for a well-ordered affection, especially for the angelic affection, since it is most ordered.
On the contrary: For the negative side. 1. «Beatitude is a state perfect by the gathering together of all goods5»; but where the state is perfect, there is no advance: therefore if in the blessed Angels there is perfect and full joy, therefore it does not seem that it should receive any increment from anything.
2. Likewise, joy is of the essence of beatitude, just as charity also is: therefore if joy can grow in them, the habit of charity can also grow in them; but if charity can6 grow, it can be altered in them: therefore it can be lost in them.
3. Likewise, created good, compared to uncreated good, is as a point to a line7: therefore if the blessed Angel rejoices in each thing as it ought to be rejoiced in, he rejoices disproportionately more in God than he rejoices in any created thing: therefore as a point added to a line does not increase the line, so the creature with the Creator is not a greater matter of rejoicing than the creating essence itself by itself: therefore since the Angel rejoices in the eternal truth itself, on account of some8 created thing it does not seem that joy grows in him.
4. Likewise, if joy grows in the Angel on account of the beatitude of the one whom he guards; but the one who is guarded can impede his own beatitude: therefore he can impede the perfection of angelic joy; if this is false, since it is against the account of true beatitude, then so also the first [claim].
Conclusion.
The essential joy of the Angels can in no way be augmented; but it is more probable that the accidental joy can grow not only extensively, but also intensively.
I respond: It must be said that joy in the Angel growing Distinction. can be understood in two ways: either extensively, or intensively. It is said to grow extensively when one rejoices in many things; but intensively when one's affection rejoices more copiously in a single thing. If therefore Conclusion 1. we understand the increase of joy according to the first mode, in this way it is without doubt true, and the doctors commonly hold this, that joy accrues to the blessed Angels themselves, because they rejoice in many things, inasmuch as more are saved. — But if we speak of the growth of joy as to the second mode, Subdistinction. namely as to intension, then a distinction must be made; for joy is twofold. For there is joy in which the substantial reward consists; and this is joy in uncreated good, which the Angel has in God and concerning God. There is again joy in which the accidental reward consists; and this is the joy which the Angel has in created good, whether his own or another's.
There were therefore those who said that in the blessed Opinion 1. Angels both joys grow intensively, because they are not yet perfectly blessed, although they are confirmed; of whose opinion the Master seems to have been9. But because this does not seem probable, as it was disproved above at the fifth distinction10, where the conversion of the Angels is treated; therefore there were others who said Opinion 2. that neither joy grows in them intensively, but only extensively, but their charity is not greater than it was from the beginning, although now more love than then.
But because this still does not seem very probable, that the matter of joy should accrue to the Angels without joy too being in some way intensified; therefore there is Opinion 3. a third mode of speaking, that in the Angels joy in no way grows, in which the essential reward11 consists, because Conclusion. as to that they are perfectly blessed; but the joy in which the accidental reward consists can grow not only extensively, but Conclusion. also intensively, and by reason of one's own good and by reason of conjoined good; because by ministering to others they do good works in which they merit the accidental reward; and they also lead their fellow-citizens to beatitude, over whom without doubt they rejoice and congratulate. — And this third position seems to be more probable, and according to it the response to the opposing sides is clear. For the reasons showing that from our To the arguments for the affirmative side. beatification joy accrues to the Angels, conclude only of accidental joy, which regards the good [in question], in which however the augmentation of essential reward does not consist.
But the reasons on the contrary proceed or To the arguments for the negative side. conclude of substantial joy, by reason of which the Angel is perfectly blessed, and which corresponds to the quantity of habit, and which regards uncreated good; and this indeed does not grow in him, as those reasons show. — To the 4th argument. The last reason, however, does not conclude that man can impede angelic joy; because, as will better appear soon, the Angel so congratulates over the salvation of men that he is nevertheless not saddened by their damnation; and so the impediment of our salvation places no defect in angelic joy or reward. Nevertheless it does not seem inconvenient if it be granted that some accidental joy of the Angel himself can be impeded; but that will be better explained through the next problem.
Scholion.
I. On this second question other older masters either are silent or in a few words settle the matter in solving the following third question, consenting in their solution with St. Bonaventure. — But other commentators are accustomed to treat in this place various other questions, which regard in general the advance of the good Angels in the cognition both of God and of other things, as S. Thom., here q. 2. a. 1-4; Petr. a Tar., here q. 2. a. 1-4; Richard. a Med., here a. 2. q. 1. 2, who teach that the Angels can advance in the cognition of caused things, but not in the vision of God.
II. On the third question: Alex. Hal., S. p. II. q. 41. m. 6. a. 2. — S. Thom., here q. 1. a. 5; S. I. q. 113. a. 7. — B. Albert., S. p. II. tr. 9. q. 36. m. 6. — Petr. a Tar., here q. 2. a. 5. — Richard. a Med., here a. 2. q. 3. — Aegid. R., here q. 2. a. 4. — Dionys. Carth., here q. 4.
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- Vers. 7.Verse 7.
- Dist. 5. a. 3. q. 2. — De maiori cfr. d. 7. p. I. a. 1. q. 2. in corp.Dist. 5, a. 3, q. 2. — On the major premise cf. d. 7, p. I, a. 1, q. 2, in the corpus.
- Matth. 22, 39.Matt. 22, 39.
- Hic c. 2. — Mox Vat. omittit si potest crescere cognitio.Here, c. 2. — Soon afterward the Vatican edition omits si potest crescere cognitio [if cognition can grow].
- Boeth., III. de Consol. prosa 2. — Plures codd. cum ed. 1 et Vat., contradicentibus aliis codd. et textu originali, aggregatione pro congregatione.Boethius, On the Consolation III, prose 2. — Many codices along with ed. 1 and the Vatican edition, against other codices and the original text, read aggregatione for congregatione.
- In codd. T W subiungitur in eis.In codices T, W is added in eis [in them].
- Inter quae secundum Aristot., IV. Phys. text. 71. (c. 8.) non est proportio, quia secus linea componeretur ex punctis, quod est impossibile.Between which, according to Aristotle, Physics IV, text 71 (c. 8), there is no proportion, because otherwise the line would be composed of points, which is impossible.
- Multi codd. aliquid.Many codices read aliquid.
- Hic c. 2. — Paulo superius post quamvis sint plures codd. adiiciunt beati.Here, c. 2. — A little above, after quamvis sint, several codices add beati [blessed].
- Art. 3. q. 2. — Cod. T ubi actum fuit pro ubi agitur.Art. 3, q. 2. — Codex T reads ubi actum fuit for ubi agitur.
- Cod. cc et ed. 1 substantiale.Codex cc and ed. 1 read substantiale. ---